


Rose's Last Day

by valeriexxm



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Emotional, F/F, Goodbyes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-02
Updated: 2016-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-17 21:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,105
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5886109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valeriexxm/pseuds/valeriexxm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rose spends her last day with the Crystal Gems individually</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rose's Last Day

**Author's Note:**

> This chapter made me cry, it's the most emotional thing I've written and I just love them so much

They spent Rose's last day in the garden. Walking though the beautiful flowers, they talked about old times and their favorite memories. They stopped in front of the fountain and Rose turned toward Pearl.

Rose laced her fingers into the smaller gem's and held her gaze for longer than Pearl had ever seen her do. It was a gesture she was used to. Rose always held her hand when things were tough. But this...

Pearl had never imagined that one day they wouldn't be together. Rose Quartz was everything she had ever known. Her life began with Rose, and now... In a thousand years of service Rose had never looked at her that way before. It was the look she'd always dreamed of, under better circumstances of course. It was the one Rose gave Alexander. And Travis, and Marilyn, and Greg. Pearl began to wonder if Rose would actually say something when her lips stopped Pearl mid-thought.

Rose kissed her so hard and for so long Pearl forgot how to use her artificial lungs. The moment lasted both longer than the entire war, and shorter than the time it took for her eyes to blink. In that single kiss Pearl understood it all. It was as if Rose projected her feeling into Pearl through their lips, and Pearl wasn't afraid anymore. She knew Rose had to go. She knew that the little child that grew inside her shapeshifted womb would be special, and that he would close the gap between their worlds. In sacrificing her life to him, she was saving the lives of all the gems on Homeworld and the Crystal Gems here on Earth. There would be no war with Steven. He will save them all.  
When Rose broke apart, Pearl's true feelings flooded back into the emptiness. She thought Rose was being naive. Surely an ancient gem like her could never believe a human child would bring their worlds together?

"Protect him, and he will protect you." Rose's words echoed in Pearl's mind. Protect him? How could she possibly look at him when she knew he was only here because Rose had died to give him her gem?

She opened her mouth to let the terrible thoughts flow out, but Rose stopped them with another kiss. Gentle and sweet, it reminded Pearl of the beautiful moss Rose grew, and of the flowers that surrounded her sacred tear fountain. How many times had she dreamed that she would kiss her? How many times did she let her body be destroyed to protect Rose Quartz? And now... After all she had done... Rose kissed her now. When she was ready to die of her own free will. She didn't kiss Pearl that time she jumped in front of a flying axe. Or the time she ran headfirst into a corrupted gem's horns so Rose wouldn't get impaled. Pearl had done those things because she loved her. She had always loved her. Was it too much to hope for her affections to be returned? Pearl spent a thousand years protecting her in the bloodiest war this galaxy had ever seen, and Rose had never once done anything other than the occasional hand-holding.

Now Rose was kissing her, and Pearl didn't want her to. She wanted Rose to love her for what she did, not because she was dying. Pearl pulled away. The breaking of their lips pulled the words she had been swallowing right back out.

"Now you love me? After all this time, after all the fighting, and the dying, and the wars? Now you decide to kiss me?" Pearl yelled at her.  
Rose's gaze dropped to her swollen belly.

"I have done everything I could to get you to see me. I would have died for you Rose. And now, you're just going to give your life up? I spent thousands of years protecting you, and you let that thing inside you kill you? You want me to protect it, but who's protecting you from it?"

Pearl's eyes began to water, and she cursed herself for creating tearducts. She hated them. They clouded her vision and made her eyes hurt.  
Rose Quartz approached Pearl as she trembled. She grabbed Pearls hand and forced her to look up.

"My Pearl, love is something that I am still trying to understand. I love many things. I love the sun that rises over our ocean, and the fish that swim under the golden rays. I love the smell of my garden, and the color of the blossoms at dusk. I love the way you laugh, and the beautiful ease of your movements when you dance. I love the look you get when you're right, and how fast you learn new skills. You're perfect Pearl, and no matter how you think I feel, I love you. I know that love is complicated and love is difficult. It's downright confusing for me."

Rose shook her head and laughed, one hand on her belly, the other hand laced with Pearl's.

"But I know that what we have is love. I know that what Greg and I have is love as well. It is a different kind of love, but I learned that there is never the same love twice. I've spent thousands of years with you Pearl. I remember the day you emerged, and when I took you as mine. I have loved you since then, and I will love you through this day. I will love you through the next thousand years. Every time this child looks at you and smiles, he is remembering you and how much he loves you. You are lucky, not many people meet babies who already know them. I love you Pearl. Steven loves you too, although you haven't met him yet. But he has met you, and he has spent a thousand years next to you. My sweet Pearl, do not cry for me. I am not going anywhere. I will be next you as long as Steven is. I find love is very complicated, and sometimes confusing. But my child loves you, you only need to look into his eyes to see it."

The day Steven was born Pearl did not cry. It wasn't because she couldn't, she still had her tearducts, but because she did not feel sad. Rose Quartz was not gone. She knew that the moment she looked at the child's small belly button and her reflection gleamed in the pink crystal. She cradled him in her arms and laced her hand through his. Steven's tiny hand held her pale one. He looked into her eyes and smiled.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked it! Thanks for reading, and feedback is always appreciated


End file.
